Folding stand



Jan. 6, 1959 T. F. S'CHMIDT 2,867,485

FOLDING STAND FiledMay 8, 1957 E/EOOORE F SCHM/DT 2,867,485 PatentedJan. 6, 1959 inc FOLDING STAND Theodore F. Schmidt, Elmhurst, Ill.

Application May 8, 1957, Serial N 0. 657,830

Claims. (Cl. 311-84) This invention relates in general to folding standsusually made of lightweight materials such as to provide a support for abasket, a bassinette, an auto bed, a port able bath and the likealthough it may also be made of stronger materials and of larger sizesas a support and a display holder for other articles. In foldable standsas heretofore used, the parts are hinged or otherwise connected togetherso that the legs in folding do not fold compactly against the top oragainst the other legs, but rather engage each other and extend at anupward and space consuming angle from the top itself and from eachother, such that the folded stand cannot be compactly collapsed forcompact storage or shipment.

The present invention overcomes these dilficulties and objections byproviding an improved offsetting hinge for each of the legs and foldablecollapsing leg stays so that the legs are firmly held in extendedposition at right angles to the top and also are foldable compactly inoverlapping relation at the under side of the top and substantiallyparallel thereto. Although connected for joint movement by cross pieces,the upper ends of the legs are connected at the tops by offset end barsfor providing additional space at the ends of the top for receiving abassinette or other articles longer than the top itself.

An important object of the invention is to provide a folding stand inwhich the legs are pivoted to the top by an oifsetting hingeconstruction which permits the legs to fold more compactly at the underside of the top and in engagement with each other.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means forguiding the folding and extending movements of the end pairs of legs inunison and in holding them locked in extended position so that the standwill not collapse.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a compactlyfolding stand which has means extending above the top for extending theeffective area thereof so that a basket or other article larger than thetop may be supported thereby.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a lower supportfor a shelf or tray as a part of the folding stand.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and willbe apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. l is a perspective View of a folding stand in accordance with thisinvention in extended position,

Fif. 2 is a perspective view of the stand of Fig. l in folded position;and

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the offsetting leg hinges.

In a folding support for articles which are used periodically, such asbaby baskets and baths, wash baskets and other containers for clothing,display containers and the like, it is desirable that they be compactlyfolded so that when not in use, they may be stored where they willoccupy a small space from which they do not protrude 0b jectionably whenthey are folded as awkward sprawling and extension is often caused byimproper connection of the hinged legs and other parts, but the presentinvention overcomes these objections by providing the leg structuremounted on offsetting hinge plates which causes the legs at oppositeends to fold compactly against the top and supported by and against thelegs from the other end.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, this invention isillustrated in connection with an article supporting top 10 and fourlegs 12 disposed near the corners of the top. The top may comprisesidebars 14 connected near the ends by cross bars 16 firmly joining theside bars near the ends thereof. If desired, a top panel or cover plate18 may be attached to the upper or lower side of the frame formed by thebars and cross pieces of the top. This plate may be heavy cardboard,thin sheet metal, laminated wood, fiber or other material which is bothlight and strong.

The legs are attached to the top near the ends of the side boards bymeans of offsetting hinge plates 20, each angular or L-shaped. Eachplate is attached at the relatively inner side of a leg 12 by a rivet 22which extends through the plate at the angular portion thereof and intoor through the post. One end of the L extends parallel to the post andin the L-shaped portion, a screw or stud 24 is inserted into the post,the rivet 22 and the stud holding the hinge plate tightly in connectionwith the post. An extension 26 of the hinge plate is at right angles tothe portion secured to the leg 12 and has an offset 28 in this extendingportion through which a pivot 3t) extends through the plate and into orthrough the side bar 14 of the top adjacent the end thereof, the offset28 freeing the leg and the side bar from engagement with each other andproviding a space for the ends of the rivet 22 and the pivot 30 to passwithout contact with each other. The extension 26 forms a spacing ofisetbetween the leg and the side bar 18 when the legs are folded withrespect to the top and with respect to each other.

Also connecting each leg and its corresponding side bar 14 is a leg stayhaving a part 32 pivoted at one end to the side bar 14 at a shortdistance fro-m the end and an other leg stay part 34 pivoted at one endto the leg and at a distance below its pivoted connection with the endof the side bar 14 when the stand is in supporting position. These twopart 32 and 34 are connected together by a pivot 36 in the end of onepart as 34 so that the other part 32 overlaps the part 34 near the pivotand these parts are provided in the overlapping portion with indentedand engaging edges 38 and 46 respectively which in interengage when thestay parts are in alignment with each other to limit their movement inone direction.

A projection and depression 42 is also formed in the end of one part 32and near the end of the other part 34 which inte-rengage and hold thestay parts in parallel position until they are manually disengaged by afolding movement at the pivot 36 in a well known manner. The upper endsof the post 12 preferably extend a short distance above the top 10 andits cover plate 18, if it has one, and to the sides outwardly from theends of each pair of legs, a cross bar 44 is secured in outwardly offsetrelation by short connectors 45 extending between the inner side of thebar 44 at the ends thereof and the relatively outer side of the legs atthe upper ends thereof. By connecting these bars 44 in an offsetrelation, a basket or other receptacle which is longer than the actuallength of the top may be supported thereon and between the bars 46, thusproviding more space in this dimension of the stand. I

The lower portions of each end pair of legs 12 may also be crossconnected and the stand strengthened by bars 48 intermediate the top 10and the lower ends of the legs which provide means for upholding andsupporting a rollers 50 which support the stand and for free movementupon the floorlor any other surface when it is in use and which alsoturn freely forcompact arrangement in folding the stand as shown in Fig.2.

This stand has a general use particularly in households and may be usedeither as a temporary or a permanent folding stand with the addedfeatures that it is firmly held in its extended position againstcollapsing and is easily foldable into compact relation for storage andshipment since the legs are of a suitable length to overlap below thetop and fold tightly together against the under side of the top andagainst the first folded pair of legs so that the stand can be stored ina minimum space when desired.

While a preferred construction has been described in some detail, itshould be regarded by way of illustration and example rather than as arestriction or limitation thereof, as many changes in the construction,combination and arrangement of the parts may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim: I

1. In a folding stand, a supporting rectangular top, legs connected atthe outer sides of the top near the upper ends of the legs, theconnection comprising a hinging plate between each leg and substantiallyparallel to the side of the top pivoted at one side of the plate to thetop and secured to the inside of the leg, the pivot of each plate beingangularly offset with respect to the leg and the legs being of a lengthsuch that the legs of one end fold against the underside of the top andthe legs of the other end fold over and against the first folded legs,the folded legs being substantially parallel to the top and to eachother, and locking link means pivoted to each leg at a distance belowthe hinging plate and to the adjacent outer side of the top at adistance from the end With intermediate pivoted and engaging portionslimiting the plate hinging movement of the leg to a supporting extendedposition at right angles to the top in one direction and to engagementsubstantially parallel with the under side of the top in the foldeddirection.

2. In a folding stand, a supporting rectangular top, legs connected atthe outer sides of the top near the upper ends of the legs, theconnection between each of the legs and the top comprising an offsettinghinge substantially parallel with the outer side of the top, a foldedleg stay connected to the inner side of each leg near the top thereofbelow its connection with the top and to the adjacent side of the topnear the end thereof to limit the hinging movement of each leg to aposition at right angles to the top, and to fold compactly with theother legs at the under side of the top, each' of the legs extending atthe top beyond the hinging plate and above the top in its supportedposition, and a bar connecting the upper extending ends of each pair oflegs in an oifset relation beyond each end of the top and compiisingconnectors between the inner side of each bar at the end and the outerside of each leg at the upper end thereof above the said connectionsnear the tops, the oifset bars providing spaces at the ends of the topas open extensions thereof.

3. In a folding stand in accordance with claim 2, the

4 pairs of legs of each end having a connecting cross piece near thelower ends of the legs for jointly folding and unfolding them, inaddition to the spacing offset bars which also cause the legs to bejointly folded and unfolded, the cross pieces together forming ahorizontal support below the top.

4. In a folding stand, a supporting rectangular top, legs connected atthe outer sides of the top near the upper ends of the legs, theconnection comprising an offsetting hinge between each leg and the toppivoted at one side of the plate to the top and fixed at the other sideof the plate to the inner side of the leg, the pivot for each platebeing rectangularly offsetting with respect 7 to the leg forsubstantially the thickness thereof and the legs being of a length tooverlap at the free ends when folded so the legs of one end foldcompactly against the under side of the top and the legs of the otherend fold compactly against the first legs the legs folding substantiallyparallel to each other and to the top, a leg stay pivoted to each legand to the adjacent side of the top at a position below the top andfoldable to permit the legs to fold against the top and extensible toposition the legs at right angles to the top, and means connecting thelegs of each end for movement together comprising a cross piece betweenthe lower ends of the legs and the hinges theer-of and a bar at the tophaving means connecting it in an outwardly offset direction to the upperends of the legs for adding a free space at each end of the top betweensaid bars which is longer than the extent of the top.

5. In a folding stand, a supporting rectangular top,

legs connected at the outer sides of the topv but below the ends of thelegs, the connection comprising a hinging plate between each leg and thetop parallel to the outer side of the top and pivoted at one side of theplate to the top and secured to the inside of the leg, the pivot andconnection for each plate being spaced apart with respect to each otherso that the legs of one end fold substantially parallel With and at theouter sides of the top and compactly against the folded legs of theother end which abut the under side of the top, the hinging plate foreach leg being of an angular L-shaped form with one portion of the Lfixedly connected to the inner side of the leg and the other side of theL extending from the leg at right angles thereto and the pivotconnecting the plate to the top being near the outer end of thisextension at a distance substantially equal to the leg thickness so thatthe extension is at right angles to the top when the leg is folded andis parallel to the top when the leg is in its extended position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS543,422 Ernest July 23, 1895 831,667 Johnson Sept. 25, 1906 1,353,660Main Sept. 21, 1920 1,426,422 Stowe Aug. 22, 1922 1,640,441 Conrad Aug.30, 1927 2,075,778 Johannsen Mar. 30, 1937 2,077,541 Wieslander Apr. 20,1937 2,633,395 Zenner Mar. 31, 1953 2,764,412 Dunham Sept. 25, 1956

